Central Gauteng holds off KZN in tight u19 final
Central Gauteng A and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) A produced a very physical, lung-busting u19 boys’ final at the Schools Water Polo South Africa Inter-Provincial Tournament on Wednesday in the Joan Harrison East Pool in East London, which Central Gauteng won 8-6.
Earlier in the event, KZN had beaten Central Gauteng 12-10. Meanwhile, Western Province A beat KZN 10-7 in a Pool A clash on Monday, but KZN downed Province 14-11 on Tuesday.
The competition between the top three sides was incredibly close, but Central Gauteng played their best game of the event in the final to beat KwaZulu-Natal.
The match was played in front of a packed crowd and Gauteng, from the first whistle to the last, produced a disciplined and hard-working defensive effort to prevent KZN from attacking with pace. Their man-to-man marking was superb.
The KZN side, though, is a tough unit, and they were up for the fight. They scored first through Tristan Uys, who played with a sense of urgency and a remarkable motor throughout the IPT. Teams could only hope to contain him, but he couldn’t be stopped.
Declan Wood, though, got the Central Gauteng scoring ticking by levelling for coach Jon-Marc De Carvalho‘s side.
That was how the final played out most of the way. First one team scored, then the other responded. It was only right at the death that Central Gauteng managed to open up a slight gap.
KwaZulu-Natal’s win over Western Province in the semi-finals was, arguably, a more entertaining clash, but Wednesday’s showdown had final written all over it. Usually, a good defence triumphs over a good attack when titles are on the line, and both teams defended well, putting in tremendously hard and committed shifts to snuff out their opponent’s offensive forays.
Tristan Uys led the scorers on both teams, netting three times, including with a spectacular reverse shot and a rocket from range late in the second half to drag KZN back into the contest. Meanwhile, Mark Hudson and Marc Smith bagged doubles for Central Gauteng.
Eventually, Ross Rovelli sealed victory for his side when he scored seconds from the final whistle.
As time expired, Central Gauteng coach Jon-Marc De Carvalho was overcome with emotion and took a quiet moment to himself.
He explained that it was, in part, a reaction to just missing out on the title last year, when a superb Central Gauteng team was pipped in a penalty shootout by Western Province A.
Turning to Wednesday’s final, he said: “The part that was the best for me was when we implemented something we had trained at practice, and that came off.”
Central Gauteng’s bloody-minded defensive effort, which saw them sticking to the KZN players like limpets, was a big key to their victory.
“We changed slightly from the first time we played them,” De Carvalho revealed. “We went a tiny bit more conservative, but my vision was a wall of pressure. Yes, they scored one or two. They did very well to get past it once or twice. But more often than not there was a stop. That is exactly what I wanted. I wanted them to do that and keep KZN at bay.”
It was noticeable in the title-decider how much more intense the game was than the earlier pool matches, and how much better both units were playing.
“We never wanted to be at our best on the first day. We know this is a long tournament and it gets harder and harder, and you get fatigued, so you need to be slowly building through every game and every moment. It was fantastic!” De Carvalho said.
“The guys listened to what I wanted, and what we had spoken about, and we implemented that more and more.
“Today, it was more about concentrating and doing the right things at the right time, rather than just being all out, guns blazing. We could have gone that way, but it was more strategic, building, building, and building. It was great.”
Finally, he touched on another aspect that, he felt, won his side the match: “The man-ups. We had seen that before we hadn’t pulled them off. We had practiced them so much, and today we did pull them off, and that was probably the difference.”
Credit to De Carvalho’s opposite number, coach Rob Ambler. His KZN boys, no matter the stakes of their games, played their matches with a smile on their faces. They exhibited a fantastic team spirit and, with only three players matriculating this year, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with in 2025.
Three teams stood out above the rest, Central Gauteng A, KwaZulu-Natal A, and Western Province A, so it was no surprise that Province A clinched the bronze medals, beating Buffalo City in their last outing.
Beaten but unbowed, what a tournament the home team put together! Their side was composed solely of boys from Selborne College and they fronted up impressively despite having far fewer numbers from which to draw players. They did their province and school proud.
Central Gauteng B edged out Nelson Mandela Bay in a shootout, taking it 2-1 from the spot after the teams had finished at 10-10. That secured them fifth place.
There was another epic shootout between KwaZulu-Natal B and Western Province B in the battle for seventh, with Province B claiming the win 4-3 from the spot after regulation time produced a 13-13 draw.
Zimbabwe handled Northerns 16-11 to end in ninth position.
The Aussie Crocs, meanwhile, proved to be a popular addition to the event, even though they weren’t part of the inter-provincial competition. They took on the best teams, produced some eye-catching results, and demonstrated typical Aussie guts.
Andrew Reeves, the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, lauded their performances and said they would be very welcome at next year’s 50th edition of the Schools Water Polo South Africa Inter-Provincial Tournament in Johannesburg. He invited them to return with a girls’ team, too.
SCORES
Final – KwaZulu-Natal A 6: Tristan Uys (3), James Pohl (2), Max Scully (1). Central Gauteng A 8: Marc Smith (2), Marc Hudson (2), Ross Rovelli (1), Nicholas Searle (1), Declan Wood (1), Greg Pryce (1).
3rd/4th – Western Province A 11: Nicholas Fall (3), Mac Lecuona (3), Thomas Truter (2), Arkin Marais (1), Bradley Warneke (1), Adam October (1). Buffalo City 5: Liam Hansen (2), Sean Audie (1), Daniel Breetzke (1), Connor Maree (1).
5th/6th – Nelson Mandela Bay 11: Calum Emslie (5), Rolan Swanevelder (2), Spencer Adshade (1), Adam Nurse (1), Oliver Martin (1), Coel Trollip (1). Central Gauteng B 12: Chris Chapman (4), Logan du Preez (3), Travis Donnelly (2), Darien Salovy (1), Erik Arwidi (1), Francois Hartslief (1).
7th/8th – KwaZulu-Natal B 13 (3): Kyron de Kock (4), Robert Smith (3), Drew Hollingsworth (1), Ryan Spooner (1), Ruan Basson (1), Matthew Botha (1), Keegan Elliott (1), Andrew Boucher (1). Western Province B 13: William Robinson (3), Matt Forbes (3), Blake Brown (2), Milo Letschert (2), Jayden Bosman (1), Luke Cartwright (1), Aiden Laubser (1).
9th/10th – Northerns 11: Kieron Potgieter (5), Luke Egan (1), Ulric Curlewis (1), Criston Richter (1), Thabiso Mbembele (1), Keegan Dick (1), Kamva Kenqu (1). Zimbabwe 16: Garrick Duff (7), Ruan Nel (3), Mitchell Stanley (2), Chika Mgbemena (1), Nathan Horner (1), Sibusiso Sibanda (1), Dylan van Hoof (1).
